WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:01.520 Jesus, you are beautiful. 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:02.959 Your love is beautiful. 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:04.559 Your grace is beautiful. 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:09.919 And you make our lives have the ability to experience that beauty, God. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:10.880 We just love you. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:17.679 And we are so excited to be here this morning, be able to worship you, just express our love to you. 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:25.280 And we ask that, Holy Spirit, you would be here, that you would fill our hearts with something that would change our lives and make us better for your kingdom, God. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:26.800 And we ask all this in your name. 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:27.679 Amen. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:33.280 I've got a couple of quick announcements before we jump into what we're gonna talk about this morning. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:35.439 First has to do with Christmas Angels. 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:45.280 If you took a star for the Christmas Angels and you've been out shopping for your the kid that you grabbed that star for, if you're doing that this week, two dates that you need to know. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:52.079 Number one is December 4th, which is two weeks from today, and that is the date to bring back any of the gifts that you got. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:53.920 That's our our gift return day. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:59.280 That way our teams can organize those and get them ready to be delivered to all the families that need those. 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:05.920 And then the second date is December 11th, and that is the day that we're going to actually deliver all those gifts to all the families in need. 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:10.719 And if you've never been a part of the delivery day for Christmas Angels, it is a really cool experience. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:14.719 And what's great is you don't you don't need to have taken a star in order to be a part of that. 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:21.359 You just stay after church that day, get in your car, and and everything's kind of given to you, a map and everything, you take it where it goes. 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:29.120 Um but it's just a really cool picture of us taking all the things that God has blessed us with here and then just kind of taking it out to the community. 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:32.640 And so so that's that's a huge thing to be a part of if you can be a part of that. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:38.719 Um I want to remind everybody that our Wednesday night groups and classes are done until the start of the new year. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:46.719 We'll be making some announcements about when those are gonna be picking up and whatever whatever's gonna be offered after the new year, but that's done from now until then. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:49.280 And that includes the junior high group on Wednesday nights. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.000 So everything on Wednesday nights is is done for now. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:54.480 If you if you come on a Wednesday night, you'll be lonely. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:55.599 And we don't want that. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:57.120 So don't do that. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:06.400 And then finally, um, finally, just want to say a big thank you to everyone for doing what you do to help us out, you know, whether it's volunteering or supporting us, you know, financially. 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:14.159 Uh, this is a church, and and we're a group of people that are just trying to do what we can to uh to take Jesus' love and his message to anyone we can. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:16.400 And everything you do, everything you do helps. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:21.840 Um I know that last Sunday we did baptisms, and that was an incredible, incredible thing to see. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:25.840 You know, every time we see 50 people go all in for Jesus, it's exciting. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:30.800 And, you know, it's the holidays, and financially speaking, there's usually not a ton of extra money laying around. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:33.199 Very few of us are like, woo, let's burn some money. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:37.840 Um and if you are, wow, but I don't know what that feels like. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:50.639 But I know that mornings like like last week are a big reminder, you know, to me personally, of why my wife and I set aside some of our funds every single month, even during the holidays, you know, for to give to this church. 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:54.319 It's because God is doing incredible things here and people's lives are being changed. 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:59.919 They're they're they're finding a relationship with Jesus they've never had before, and God is just showing up in big ways. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.039 So thank you so much for doing that. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:08.400 If you feel led to do that this morning, we've got columns at the back of the room that you can give at um either electronically or or with envelopes and all that. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:12.159 Um let's go ahead and jump into what we're gonna talk about this morning. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.120 I guess I should say that Steve's not here this morning, if I haven't said that yet. 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:17.120 He's not waiting in the wings. 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:19.520 Um actually, he's gonna be back in a few weeks. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:25.199 I get the pleasure of sharing this morning, and then the next two weeks after this morning, we've got Ken Kington with us. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:27.439 So that's yeah. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:28.639 Aha. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:31.280 I'm gonna tell Ken he didn't get that big of a cheer. 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:32.159 We'll see. 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:33.360 We'll see what happens. 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:34.800 I'll be good for him, no. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:39.919 Um and then Steve will be back in three weeks to finish off the rest of the year. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:48.000 Um I'm really excited about what we're gonna talk about this morning because it's a principle that we learn from Jesus that is life-changing. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:52.800 It's one of those things that when applied, it really drastically changes our lives. 00:03:52.960 --> 00:04:05.680 It also happens to be a principle that I am personally terrible at, which is always fun to be able to share something that you're not very good at, that God has allowed you to see and hopefully get better at. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:18.160 But it's something that that God's been putting on my heart a lot lately and showing me that it's something I need to get good at, because when I when I apply it, when I do it, it makes my life so much better and the lives of everyone that's close to me. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:22.399 In order to get to that, though, I want to I just want to pick up where we left off last week with Jesus. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:29.519 Steve talked about Jesus getting baptized last week in light of everyone that was taking that step in their relationship with God. 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:39.360 And this morning I want to talk a little bit about what happened right after Jesus got baptized, because it's through that that we're gonna we're gonna see this principle that Jesus had mastered. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:42.720 See, Jesus' baptism was a big catalyst in his life. 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:50.560 He was 30 years old when he got baptized, and sometimes, sometimes it's good to remember that, that for 30 years, Jesus was totally under the radar. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:52.800 For 30 years, he lived life like all of us. 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:56.079 He had a job, he worked, he had a family, he went to church. 00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:03.360 And there were very few people on earth for the first three years of, or first 30 years of Jesus' life, rather, that even knew who he was. 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:08.800 And if they knew him, they knew him as Jesus the nice guy, Jesus the carpenter's son, Jesus my cousin. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:12.000 They didn't know him as Jesus the Messiah or Jesus the Son of God. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:16.720 He spent the first 30 years of his life just living it like all of us do. 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:34.079 But three years after his baptism, when he was 33, by the time he made it to the cross and rose again, he would be the most famous person that ever has lived, the most famous person that ever will live, the most talked-about person in the entirety of human history. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:40.480 So from the start of his baptism in those three years until he's on the cross, a lot happened. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:41.600 He was busy. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:42.399 And he had to be. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:49.120 All he had to do was save all of us and change the course of history and totally reteach the concept of God to all humanity. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:49.839 That's a lot to do. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:06:00.240 So you would think that after the baptism, when God affirms him in front of all these people in this miraculous way, the Holy Spirit came on Jesus and said, This is my son who I love, he brings me great joy. 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:04.399 You would think that from that moment on, Jesus would get right at it. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:13.199 You know, everyone that was at that baptism, it's kind of cool to think about because everyone that was there when Jesus was baptized, no one was there to see Jesus. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:15.680 They didn't know who Jesus was. 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:17.439 They were all there to see John. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:18.800 Jesus' cousin. 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:20.160 They were there to see John the Baptist. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:26.879 He was the one everyone was talking about, and then Jesus gets baptized, this miraculous thing happens, and then immediately people are now talking about Jesus. 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:27.920 They know who he is. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:40.720 And you would think that after that, Jesus could harness that moment, build on its momentum, do something big, some big, you know, attention-grabbing miracle or something like that, and start from there. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:41.920 But he doesn't. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:43.839 In fact, he does the exact opposite of that. 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:46.639 He spends over a month in total seclusion. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:50.160 In uh, I think it's Matthew chapter 4, verse 1. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:57.680 It says, and this is right after his baptism, it says, Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:02.399 For 40 days and 40 nights he fasted and became very hungry. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:10.879 So right after Jesus steps into the limelight for the first time in his life, he spends 40 days in total seclusion. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:13.120 He's in the desert and he's tempted by Satan. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:15.920 He's tempted three times, and a lot of us are familiar with his story. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.560 The first thing he's tempted with is to break his fast. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:20.480 He hasn't eaten anything for 40 days. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.480 Satan shows up and says, Hey, you're hungry, turn those stones into bread. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:26.959 You have that power, and then you won't be hungry anymore. 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:28.319 And Jesus says, No. 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:39.519 The second temptation that Satan gave him was to sort of test God, to actually jump off the top of the temple at Jerusalem and see if God would really rescue him. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:45.839 I don't know if Satan was picking up on the fact that Jesus knew he would have to go through some pretty difficult things. 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:50.959 And he was saying, hey, really see if God's going to keep his promise, if he's really going to rescue you. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:52.319 And again, Jesus says no. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:56.639 And after Jesus says no to those first two temptations, Satan sort of pulls out the big guns. 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:02.560 He goes with his grand finale of temptation, and that happens in Matthew 4, verses 8 through 10. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:09.920 It says, Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:15.600 I will give it all to you, he said, if you will kneel down and worship me. 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:17.920 Get out of here, Satan, Jesus told him. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:21.680 For the scriptures say, you must worship the Lord your God and serve only him. 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:26.079 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus. 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:32.720 You really couldn't offer Jesus or anyone more than what Satan offered in that temptation. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:34.480 You'll be the king of everything. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:36.559 You'll reign over every kingdom on earth. 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:41.039 I say yes to temptations all the time that are much, much, much less than that. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:48.320 You know, every like year I'll decide to diet and lose some weight, and I'll be like, I'm not gonna eat out, I'm not eating any fast food for the next month. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:49.919 And like two days later, it happens every time. 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:52.000 Someone will be like, hey Justin, we're going to Wendy's, you want to go? 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:52.720 And I'm like, no. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:54.159 Okay, all right, let's go. 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:54.639 You know? 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:56.240 It's that quick. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:00.480 And that's just you know, a double stack or a baconator or two or whatever. 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:06.240 But but this was reigning over all the kingdoms of the earth. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:08.240 This was total power. 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:09.919 That's a pretty huge temptation. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:11.120 And Jesus says, No. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:17.360 Do you ever wonder what went through Jesus' head as he considered that? 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:20.559 That's kind of an interesting thing to think about. 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:26.399 What thoughts were going through his mind as a result of that temptation? 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:41.440 I think the easy stuff to picture is all of the luxuries and all of the power, all of the personal selfish gain that he would get from being the king of the earth, from physically reigning over every kingdom on earth. 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:48.399 You could think of all the selfish things he could have for himself, everything he could he could do if he abused that power or whatever. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:52.399 That's an easy place to go when you think about that temptation. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:55.440 But I don't think that's what Jesus thought about at all. 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:59.840 I mean, Jesus was the most unselfish human being that's ever lived. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:07.279 And he cared about people and had compassion on people in a way that no one on earth ever has. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:25.600 And so I'm I'm gonna guess if anything that went through Jesus' mind would have really tempted him when Satan offered that, it would have been all of the incredible, amazing, good things he could do with that power. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:32.960 I mean, Jesus healed a lot of people, he fed a lot of people, he helped a lot of people with their earthly problems. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:39.360 But if he was the king of the entire earth, can you imagine what he would have been able to do? 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:51.600 How many lives he would have been able to touch, how much more easily he could have spread the message that he had from God, but he said no. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:57.840 It's funny because we're about to go into another election season, which is always so much fun. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:24.799 And and every time there's an election season, I I kind of grew up in churches and traditional churches, and and I remember every time there was an election, there was all this debate and all this talk, and and people would sit in rooms and talk about how if we could only get a godly man to be president or a godly woman to be president, if only we could get, you know, a godly, god-fearing, believing person in office for four years, imagine how much better America would be. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:29.039 Can you imagine if Jesus was president for a week? 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:31.360 I mean a week. 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:35.279 How much better this country would be? 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:43.039 Jesus being king of everything would have been a really good thing. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:52.799 In a very practical sense, him being king and having that kind of direct control would have been good in a lot of ways. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:55.600 He could have done some incredible, incredible things. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:59.519 And he did some incredible things, but I'm just saying that had to be a thought that ran through his head. 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:03.440 What could I do with that kind of power? 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:05.519 But he says, no. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:07.519 Why? 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:16.399 Well, the thing is, is when Jesus said no to Satan, he wasn't just saying no, he was actually saying yes. 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:23.919 He was saying yes to something that God had already told him that he was supposed to do. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:34.159 See, it might be easy to think about the fact that uh that Jesus said no because in order to have all the kingdoms of the world and all that kind of power, he was gonna have to worship Satan. 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:36.720 Because Satan said, I'll give you all this if you bow down and worship me. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:39.840 Jesus would obviously never worship Satan, so that's why he said no. 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:46.879 But the thing is, this isn't the only time that Jesus has offered a kingdom in Scripture. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:53.039 See, the the Jewish people in that time were extremely expectant of the Messiah. 00:12:53.279 --> 00:13:01.759 There may never have been a time in history that the nation of Israel was more ready and more desiring of the Messiah to come than Jesus' time. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:10.080 They had been occupied by Rome, and for the last several hundred years, they had sort of experienced one nation conquering them after another. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:14.000 It was the Babylonians and the Assyrians, and now it's the Romans. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:16.480 And they cried out for the Messiah. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:19.039 They desperately wanted God to rescue them. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:22.799 And their concept of the Messiah was very different than who Jesus was. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:31.120 They pictured an earthly king, a man that was gonna rise to power, a man that was gonna overthrow the governments that were over them and set up Israel as the dominant nation of that time. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:32.480 That was what they pictured. 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:34.159 That's what they wanted. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:37.600 And so they were looking for the Messiah. 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:42.000 They were waiting for the chance to experience that. 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:44.480 And Jesus was very aware of this. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:55.360 He was very aware of that tendency that Israel would have to rally behind who they thought that person would be and just yell and scream for rebellion over the Roman government. 00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:01.919 That's why a lot of the times we see Jesus do these incredible miracles, and then he's very, very purposeful about telling people, hey, keep this quiet. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:03.200 Don't tell anyone about this. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:18.399 He knew that as people started to connect the dots between him and the Messiah, that there would be this growing voice and this growing distraction for Jesus of having to then reteach people what the Messiah was, because people would have wanted him to take power. 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:22.559 And we kind of get an interesting picture of that in the book of John, chapter 6. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:28.879 Jesus has just finished feeding a crowd of 5,000 plus, and all the people who have experienced this miracle are blown away. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:30.320 And they're putting the dots together. 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:32.960 They're seeing Jesus for who he is. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:42.799 And in John 6, 14 through 15, it says, When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, Surely he is the prophet we've been expecting. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:49.919 When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away to the hills by himself. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:54.480 They see Jesus as the Messiah and they are ready to make him king. 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:56.720 In other words, they're ready to become his army. 00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:07.519 And when he gets a picture of that, when Jesus senses what's going on, again, for a second time in his life, he says no. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:11.360 And he's just fed over 5,000 people. 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.480 Imagine what he could do if he was their king. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:17.759 That was when he was just a person they were going to listen to. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:20.720 But he says no again. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:27.759 And the reason that Jesus says no to all these times, and remember, this is not one that has the strings of worshiping Satan attached to it. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:29.759 They're ready to make him king. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:32.879 They're ready to follow him, and he says no, and he slips away. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:45.679 The reason that Jesus could say no was because he had already said yes to a bigger purpose. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:52.720 He had already said yes to being the person that God wanted him to be. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:59.279 See, there was no way that Jesus could have said yes to being the king in a physical sense, and yes to being our Savior. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:02.639 Because those two things were kind of mutually exclusive. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:05.919 They had different goals, they had different means, they had different ends. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:15.440 There's no way he could have been the king and yet been the ultimate example of humility and service that he was to us. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:19.279 He took the lowest position, not the highest. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:27.039 And he did it because he was constantly aware of what he was saying yes to in his life. 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:32.480 There's a book uh called Wide Awake by a guy named Erwin Raphael McManus, and that is such a cool name. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:41.360 But but it's called Wide Awake, and it's a book that I read a few years ago, and there's this concept that he brings up in the book, and it's called the Big Yes. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:46.799 It's not the main focus of the book, uh, it's it's just actually a little point in one of the chapters. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:50.639 But when I read it, it was one of the few things in that book that really stood out to me. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:54.080 And what he talks about is this concept of this thing he calls the big yes. 00:16:54.159 --> 00:17:02.000 And when he says the big yes is, is everything in life that we know God wants us to do. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:06.000 We have to say yes to those things. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:10.880 And we have to be willing to say no to anything else that would keep us from that. 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:17.839 But if we live our life focused on the big yes, it becomes a lot easier to say no. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.960 And most of the things that we're saying no to, they're not bad things. 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:26.079 Jesus being king would have been a very good thing in a lot of ways. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:28.880 He could have done some incredible things. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:32.000 He would, he would still be the gold standard of what a ruler should be. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:37.119 He would have changed the expectations of every person who's ever been under a government in their entire lives. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:42.720 He would have changed all of our expectations of what is possible in a position like that. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:18:00.079 But he said no to that because he was focused on his big yes, which was being our sacrifice, which was being our savior, which was reconciling us with God, and being our king spiritually. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:11.359 Most of the time, what we have to say no to in order to say yes to the big stuff, to the big yes stuff, it's not good versus evil. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:13.359 It's good versus good. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:20.319 There's a quote in that book that really jumped out to me, and basically it is what it says. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:21.759 I think we'll have we have it up on the screen. 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:27.839 It says, if you're going to discover the life God created you to live, you have to learn how to say no to all the other options. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:34.720 And the tough choices aren't between good and evil, but between all the equally good options out there that are simply not the right paths for you. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:43.759 If you do not develop the ability to say no to many important things, you're going to lose a big yes in your life. 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:51.440 Jesus had mastered the ability to be focused on the big yes and say no to anything that would distract him from it. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:55.119 Personally, this is something I'm I'm absolutely dreadful at. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:58.240 I have this tendency to say yes to everything. 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:03.680 To anything that sounds fun, anything that sounds good, anything that seems important, I say yes to it. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:15.039 And I say yes to so many things and fill up my time with all this stuff that it pulls my focus away from the big yes stuff a lot. 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:19.680 That fact really hit home for me about six or seven months ago. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:24.799 Uh Megan and I were hanging out here and doing some stuff, and and we were with uh a guy named Chris Harris that goes here. 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:26.319 He's one of our awesome high school volunteers. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:27.440 Chris is great if he's here. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:28.480 You're awesome, Chris. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:35.599 Um and Chris had just recently taken a job uh working for someone that goes here also named Daniel Griesbeck, who's another great guy. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:40.160 He's actually a great his kids volunteer of mine, who's running his kids right now, and he doesn't know I'm talking about him. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:40.799 So there. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:46.000 Um but uh but I asked Chris, I said, man, what's it like working for Daniel? 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.000 I I've worked alongside Daniel, I love Daniel. 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:49.680 What's it like to like work for Daniel? 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:50.799 And he was like, oh man. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:52.000 He said, it's it's great. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:56.079 He said, Daniel is such a great guy, he's a great boss, and and then he kind of stopped. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.960 He said, you know, one of the things about Daniel that's really cool is that he is an incredible family man. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:04.480 And when he said that, Megan made a face. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:08.400 All of us that are married in the room know what that means, right? 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:11.440 Because when you get married, you you are forced to become bilingual. 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:13.440 Now you must learn the language of the face. 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:14.000 Okay? 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:19.279 You can have entire conversations only with the face. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:21.440 And Megan can make faces with the best of them. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:23.359 She's incredible at the face stuff. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:32.000 So I saw Megan make a face, and most of the time when Megan makes a face, it kind of catches me off guard, and I'm not that good, honestly, at interpreting what she's wanting to say, so I'll just stop and I'll be like, What? 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:32.559 What'd I say? 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:32.880 What? 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:39.759 And sometimes I'll do that in public situations and it really frustrates her because we'll be at dinner and I'll be telling a story, and she'll kind of make a face, and I'll just go, What? 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:40.799 Why'd you make that face? 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:43.839 Why, you know, and she's like, What are you doing, you know? 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:45.759 But I'm sorry. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:51.680 But but this time when she made the face, I knew exactly what was going through her mind. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:53.440 I mean, it was so clear. 00:20:53.680 --> 00:21:01.519 When Chris said, Daniel is this incredible family man, Megan made this face, and and and honestly, it was so so obvious. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:04.880 She was thinking, I wish Justin was that kind of a family man. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:11.599 And so I I asked her, you know, after that, I said, Hey, do you do you think of me as like a great family man? 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:13.680 And she said, No. 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:17.359 And that really hurt because it was true. 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:27.359 You know, the thing is, I uh I mean, I'm not like a harsh man or anything like that, but it's really hard for me, and I don't know why, um, but it's really hard for me sometimes to be present. 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:42.400 I get really wrapped up in doing all these different things, and it and for some reason when I get so wrapped up because I've said yes to this and yes to that and yes to this, I end up saying no to her and to time with my family all the time. 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:44.799 Because I've said yes to those other things. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:59.519 So when she said that, you know, it was this huge just smack in the face of reality that I wasn't saying yes to a big yes thing in my life nearly enough. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:04.720 I was pulled in all these other directions. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:07.599 And I'm so glad she noticed it. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:11.920 Because that was kind of this big moment for me where I realized something had to change. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:15.440 See, at the time, I was filling up a lot of time with a lot of stuff that was it was good. 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:16.880 It wasn't bad. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:22.799 It was just stuff that wasn't big yes stuff. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:27.200 I'm a big college basketball fan, and I'm a big Duke basketball fan. 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:29.279 Okay, I was saying that and wait. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:34.400 And a few years ago, just for fun, I started doing some sports writing. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:35.440 Just as a hobby. 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:54.319 I would write these articles and send them to websites, and sometimes they get published, and then I'd I'd write more, and God kind of blessed that, and some cool stuff happened where I got to uh I got to actually be an official member of the press for CBS Sports, and I got to cover the ACC tournament a few times and sit on press row and interview the players and the coaches in the locker rooms. 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:56.720 I got to interview Coach Kay a few times face to face. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:03.759 And you know, those of you that are that are sports fans know who he is, and you can understand to a Duke fan what it would be like to do that, you know. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:10.640 Um and uh the first time that God blessed me with that, it came out of the blue. 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:12.880 I had written a few articles, I got a call from this guy. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:14.480 I actually shared about that once. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:20.480 Um I actually shared about that once here, and this guy calls me, he's like, Justin, CBS, we have a partnership with them. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:27.599 They want to send you to the ACC tournament um, you know, to cover the to cover the thing, and you're gonna interview the players and the coaches and all that kind of stuff. 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:31.359 And and it was like God saying, Here is this gift for you. 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:35.920 But what we have a tendency to do sometimes is to take a gift from God and then take control of it after that. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:42.640 And so once that once I had that experience, I walked away from it, like I'm going to be Justin McTear's sports writer. 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:50.640 And so the next year, I sp I said yes to every possible article I could I could write, or every opportunity I could have. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:52.880 I kind of tried to make it happen. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:55.359 And so I was writing three or four articles a week. 00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:57.839 I was getting emails from people, hey Justin, can you write about this? 00:23:57.920 --> 00:23:59.359 Yeah, absolutely, I'm gonna do that. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:04.319 You know, and I and I would write about it, and I was calling into radio shows and and and just spending hours. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:20.559 In fact, it got to the point where I had committed to call into radio shows and talk for two hours after every Duke basketball game, meaning that every time Duke played, I had to watch the game for two and a half hours and then immediately call in to be this co-host of this internet radio show. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:23.440 So it was a four and a half hour commitment every time they played. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:27.440 And the heart of college basketball season, I mean, that's a that's a you know, three games a week. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:30.960 I mean, we're talking 13 or 14 hours just with me doing that. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:34.799 And every time I said yes to that, I was saying no to time with my wife. 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:49.200 And I look back now and it's kind of ridiculous because it got bad enough that when the the next chance to do the ACC tournament rolled around, um, the first time it had been in Atlanta, this time it was in North Carolina, and Megan was eight months pregnant. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.039 And I went. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:57.119 You know, six and a half hours away from my eight-month pregnant wife. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:00.240 You know, and I'm saying, I, this is important. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:01.599 I gotta do this. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:03.839 You know, the thing is, is it was a good thing. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:05.759 It was enjoyable, it was a hobby. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:08.079 I enjoyed it, I liked it. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:14.000 But I was saying no to the big yes stuff in my life because I was saying yes to that. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:16.319 And that wasn't good. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:23.599 And when Megan said, No, I don't consider you to be a great family man, I knew that had to change. 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:31.440 I needed to say yes to being that and willing to say no to anything else. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:35.680 And so since that time, I actually haven't written an article in months. 00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:39.599 It's probably been almost six months since I've written one, and I don't miss it at all. 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:46.319 And that doesn't mean that when we say yes to the big yes stuff, we never get to experience fun things. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:47.599 We have to say no to every hobby. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:49.279 I still watch every Duke game. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:54.799 But you know what? 00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:59.519 If if I have time to spend with Megan and she says, hey, could you DVR that and watch it later? 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:01.119 Then I say yes to that. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:02.720 And I check the score on my phone. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:04.079 But I say yes. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:10.640 That's that's a joke, but it's true. 00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:13.200 I still have a ways to go, okay? 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:22.400 You know, I uh I said earlier that this is something I'm not very good at, and I and I still need reminding of this. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:31.599 Megan still does a great job to remind me of this all the time, but but you know, it's sports time and college basketball season just started. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:43.759 And I know that if if I hadn't said yes to being the family man that I'm supposed to be, I know that right now I'd be spending hours and hours of every single day doing that kind of stuff, and I would miss out on a lot with my son. 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:45.440 I'd miss out on a lot with my wife. 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:49.440 I got to do something with her yesterday, uh, spend the whole Saturday with her helping her out with something. 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:54.160 Then honestly, if last year I probably would have said, honey, I can't, I've got an article to write. 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:56.559 Or I can go, but I need to be on the laptop to get this in. 00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:59.039 It's important that I get this done. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:04.000 And Megan, I give you total permission to keep reminding me over and over because you'll need to. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:10.480 Jesus had an incredible ability to be focused on the big yes. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:13.279 And all of us have those. 00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:15.920 All of us have a big yes in our life. 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:19.279 Family is an easy one to think about. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:25.359 Because, you know, we might feel like we're called to do something, we might feel called to our career. 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:27.759 And that's that's awesome. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:34.000 And God does call us to career things, God does call us to that kind of work, and we should say yes to that calling. 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:42.559 But if we feel strongly that we're called to that stuff, we know that we're called to be there for our families. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:47.839 And it's amazing how easy it is to say no to our families. 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:50.640 It's a lot easier to say no to our families than to a lot of other people, isn't it? 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:51.680 It's strange. 00:27:54.559 --> 00:27:56.400 You know, it's it's serving each other. 00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:57.599 That's a big yes thing. 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:01.119 One of the great things about this church is that it's a volunteer church. 00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:07.519 There's two staff members, which means that everything that gets done gets done by volunteers, and you guys are incredible. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:10.880 We do a lot of great things, and you guys are the ones doing it. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:15.279 You're saying yes to serving each other, and that that's part of our big yes in life. 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:18.720 We're called to be the light of the world, a city on a hill. 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:24.559 When you guys say yes to jumping in and doing those things and serving, you're saying yes to a big yes thing. 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:29.359 Saying yes to our relationship with Jesus. 00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:31.519 And that's really where it all starts. 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:38.640 And honestly, if there's anyone here today that hasn't said yes yet to that one, you you're you're missing out on the biggest yes. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:43.359 Because it'll change your life for the better in every way you can imagine. 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:47.440 And all we have to do is say yes. 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:53.680 I started to write this message, and it was originally going to be talking about saying no. 00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:59.839 I actually wrote the whole thing, I sent it to Steve, and he very graciously said, it's almost there. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:06.079 But the title of it was actually Let Your No Be No. 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:18.000 And that wasn't very positive and exciting, but but the truth is, it's a lot easier to say no to anything that would distract us once we've said yes. 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:24.799 So this morning, we just need to ask the Holy Spirit to remind us what our big yeses are. 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:28.160 And then be able to ask ourselves honestly: am I saying yes to that? 00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:30.400 Am I saying yes to the big yes stuff in my life? 00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:33.519 Or am I saying yes to other things that force me to say no to those things? 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:36.960 Doesn't mean you have to cut off every fun thing you do. 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:56.240 But if you're willing to say yes every time to a big yes thing in your life, and you're willing to say no when you need to, like Jesus was, even if it's a good thing, even if it's an incredible opportunity, God will bless you for that tremendously. 00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:09.200 As the worship team comes up to finish us out this morning, you know, it's interesting because uh Jesus said no to being the king multiple times. 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:13.279 Because he said yes to following God's will for his life. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:16.319 Well, he is the king. 00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:23.279 And there will be a day when he comes back where he is the king in the earthly sense and then some. 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:30.720 So by saying yes to the big yes stuff in his life and saying no to the things that would distract him from it, he didn't miss out on a thing. 00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:38.799 He will experience what it's like to reign in that sense, and the world will be much better for it. 00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:49.039 So if there's any fear in our hearts of missing out on something we love by saying yes to the big stuff, God wants to take that fear away. 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:54.079 We never miss out when we say yes to the big yes things in our life. 00:30:54.400 --> 00:31:14.160 And we can just look at Jesus and remind ourselves of how much he said no to in order to say yes for us and realize that there is never gonna be anything that comes along in our lives as big and as incredible that we're gonna have to say no to is what Jesus did. 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:19.200 And by saying no to those things, we're just saying yes to something more important. 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:27.680 So ask God, ask the Holy Spirit to remind you to put on your heart what those big yeses are and say yes this week. 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:30.160 Let's pray. 00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:34.960 Jesus, thank you for saying yes to us. 00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:48.319 Thank you for uh for avoiding every distraction, that every time something came up in your life that would have taken you away from being what you are for us, that you said no to those things. 00:31:49.119 --> 00:31:52.000 Thank you for saying yes to death on a cross. 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:57.599 And this morning, Lord, we as a group just want to say yes to you. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:03.599 We want to say yes to being your followers, to being your children, to being your friends. 00:32:03.839 --> 00:32:18.240 And and Holy Spirit, we just ask that you would give us the discernment this morning, you would give us the ability to be like you, Jesus, where we can identify the big yes things in our life and stay focused on them and say no to all the other things that come up if need be. 00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:22.799 We love you, we praise you, and we just ask this all in your name, Jesus. 00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:23.759 Amen.